Expertise France reaccredited for the delegated management of European funds: a sign of the EU’s enhanced confidence in the agency
With €75.5 billion of Official Development Assistance in 2019, the European Union and its Member States are together the world’s leading donor. In this respect, the EU is a key actor for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
While the European Union manages a substantial proportion of the resources allocated to it by the European budget for its external action on its own, it can also entrust this task to third countries, international organisations, the European Investment Bank and Member States’ development agencies. In this case, the management of projects and resources is delegated to the operator, which must first comply with strict specifications and a preliminary accreditation procedure. This is how Expertise France has just received the renewal of its accreditation to manage European funds.
A rigorous process conducted by an independent auditor
This accreditation, which came after a rigorous assessment process conducted by an independent auditor, is a sign of the European Union’s confidence in the action of Expertise France, for which it is the main donor. This will allow the French international technical cooperation agency to continue its action with its partner countries, in order to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
When the European Commission entrusts States, organisations or agencies with the implementation tasks for EU funds and the implementation of budget guarantees, they are required to ensure that there is a high level of protection of the EU’s financial interests. They must in particular meet the requirements of the nine “pillars” which concern, for example, the internal control system, the accounting system, an independent external audit, the allocation of financing from EU funds with grants and procurement, and the protection of personal data.
Candidate organisations must consequently undergo a comprehensive assessment of the pillars by an independent auditor. Expertise France’s audit was conducted by Grant Thornton in the first half of 2021.
Through the commitment of all the teams, this procedure has accelerated developments, such as the strengthening of the internal control system, including a mapping and risk management plan, the definition of a permanent control system, the creation of an internal audit unit, and the structuring of our activities through the preparation of internal procedures and policies.
Expertise France, a French technical cooperation agency firmly focused on Europe
“Expertise France is an agency as European as it is French”, says Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery, in the annual report “Results & Outlook 2020-2021”. Expertise France is indeed an agency as European as it is French, as half of its financing (51% in 2021) comes from the EU, ahead of the other two main partners: the French State (22%) and Agence Française de Développement (18%).
These European funds allow Expertise France to fulfil its role as a lead contractor for complementary expertise. The agency can thereby implement development projects covering several themes, in order to provide a sustainable response tailored to the needs of people.
The main European projects deployed by the agency cover a wide range of themes: social protection, labour and employment with SOCIEUX+, gender equality with EUROsociAL+, sustainable development with EUROCLIMA+, etc.
“Expertise France welcomes the renewal of its accreditation for the delegated management of European funds. The confidence of the European Union, our main partner, constitutes both an honour and an obligation for us. It confirms our European base. These very strong relations with Europe have led Expertise France to structure a shared strategic vision with it in the field of technical cooperation”, says Jérémie Pellet, Chief Executive Officer of the agency.
In addition to financing, most of these projects are indeed implemented in the “Team Europe” format, i.e. in partnership with other EU Member States or other European cooperation organisations (GIZ in Germany, Enabel in Belgium, AECID and FIIAPP in Spain, etc.).
In the field, these “Team Europe” initiatives are beginning to materialise, as shown by the joint visit to Togo last week by Rémy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer of AFD, Koen Doens, Director-General for “International Partnerships” of the EU, and Jérémie Pellet, Chief Executive Officer of Expertise France.
Examples of projects implemented with European funds
EUROsociAL+ – “Gender equality policies” component
EUROsociAL+, the third phase of the EUROsociAL programme, follows on from this European programme which has been aiming to strengthen social cohesion in Latin America since 2005. Its objective is to address social inequalities and contribute to bringing together the two regions.
EUROsociAL+ has three main focuses: social policies (managed by IILA), good governance (managed by FIIAPP) and gender equality (managed by Expertise France).
The “Gender equality” component has been introduced in this new phase of the programme and aims to strengthen gender equality policies in 18 Latin American countries. In 2018, over 50% of the requests from these countries concerned issues related to violence against women.
EUROCLIMA+
EUROCLIMA+ is the European Union’s regional programme to assist 18 Latin American countries with the fight against climate change by contributing to sustainable and resilient development.
The EUROCLIMA+ programme aims to build the capacities of stakeholders in the fight against climate change in Latin America and identify innovative projects to achieve the objectives of the contributions to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP21). It also aims to promote triangular cooperation with Europe and between Latin American countries.
Expertise France is managing the development and implementation of the “Forests, Biodiversity and Ecosystems” component, in partnership with GIZ (Germany). Nine projects have been selected under the call for projects organised for this component.
The agency is also contributing to the implementation of the “Resilient Food Production” component, which is managed by GIZ.
SOCIEUX+, EU expertise for social protection, labour and employment
SOCIEUX+ is a mechanism to facilitate access to technical assistance in the fields of social protection and employment. It has been set up and cofinanced by the European Union, France, Belgium and Spain. It aims to facilitate access for people to better quality jobs and assist partner countries with their commitment to make the social protection system more inclusive.
The objective of SOCIEUX+ is to democratise access to quality jobs and more inclusive social protection systems in partner countries. This facility aims to build their capacity to develop, implement and evaluate strategies for employment and effective and sustainable social protection systems.
The SOCIEUX+ facility operates by mobilising public expertise of excellence from the administrations of European Union Member States, as well as from third countries, in the context of triangular cooperation.